George Russell is being tipped to end his recent struggles at the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix, but racing driver Mike Hezemans has warned that anything less than a win will leave him “out of excuses.”
After a perfect start to the season in Australia, George Russell has found it hard to keep up with his younger teammate Kimi Antonelli. The Italian has now won three races in a row and sits top of the F1 standings.
It’s been a surprising start to the year for Russell, who many picked as a title favourite before the season began. Despite being one of the most highly rated drivers without a championship, he’s struggled to find form so far.
Mike Hezemans believes George Russell will be ‘out of excuses’ if he doesn’t win in Canada
In an interview with RacingNews365, Dutch driver Mike Hezemans shared his thoughts on how Russell might be handling things mentally after Antonelli’s recent run of form.
Antonelli has opened up a 20-point lead in the standings, helped by three straight wins and Russell failing to make the podium in back-to-back rounds.
“It’s very strange,” said Hezemans. “Either Antonelli has made such a massive leap, or perhaps the car just doesn’t suit Russell right now, similar to the issues Hamilton faced for a long time with these ground-effect cars.
“Meanwhile, Antonelli has so much confidence. It’s brilliant and impressive, but we’ll have to wait and see. When you get down to the final three races, the pressure hits a whole new level – we saw that with Norris and Piastri last year.”
Russell had attributed his lack of pace compared to Antonelli in Miami to his ongoing struggles with low-grip circuits.
Pundit Juan Pablo Montoya felt that Russell had effectively checked out during the Miami race weekend after hearing those comments. Hezemans agrees that there won’t be many excuses left if things don’t improve for Russell at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
“Russell has never been my favourite, but there’s no denying he is incredibly fast – he just didn’t show it in Miami,” Hezemans added. “If he had won, he would not have blamed the grip.”
“He usually claims he excels on high-grip tracks and struggles on low-grip ones, but Japan has plenty of grip, and he still underperformed. If Antonelli wins again, he’s out of excuses. That will really break him.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
